Car AC compressor leak

One of my cars keeps leaking the freon out over a period of about 2
months. I didn't find any obvious leaks and put some dye in a couple
months ago. Went to drive the car yesterday and the AC wasn't working
again. Got out my UV flashlight and went looking for leaks. Could
not find anything obvious at any of the fittings. There is a sort of
cloud like scattering of "bright spots" on the outside of the
compressor itself. At the link is a photo taken with just the light
of the UV flashlight. Does that look like sufficient evidence of a
compressor leak? The compressor body is mainly purple and the dye
trace is teh green. You are looking from the front toward the back of
the compressor, that upright little tang is right on the back.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/b8c3umelp9140vo/dye%20IMG_1927.JPG?dl=0

I could not tell anything from the photo, but compressor seals can and
do leak. You may also want to check the evaporator coil. Rare, but
they leak too. After the third leak in a month on one of my cars, I
convinced the dealer to look at it and sure enough, they replaced the
coil.

There is clearly a small amount of dye on the compressor.
IDK how much would show up in the area that we can see in the
photo, as opposed to say being behind the clutch, where you
can't see it. Should be plenty of folks that have experience
and know how much dye you typically see showing up there from
a very small, slow, leak. But, in any case,
there shouldn't be any, so unless there was some way that
dye could have made it to the compressor while charging, etc.
I'd say the compressor is leaking.

That's quite a large leak, really; anybody w/ a sniffer otta' find it in
a heartbeat or two at most.

I was going to say the same thing but add that looking for oil leak is
another general indicator of failure of seals on compressor--the hood
insulation pad is a good catch point to see throw lines on if the
compressor is at the top of the compartment as in most vehicles.

Just as follow up. I put the car up on ramps so I could better see
the compressor and there was enough oil film around the area behind
the clutch that I was reasonably certain that the leak was from the
front shaft seal. So I shopped around for a new compressor and wound
up buying one off Amazon for $128. Put it on, evaced the system,
recharged and so far so good. Time will tell. System pulled a good
vacuum and held it so hopefully no leaks.
As to Amazon... I picked the vendor I picked because it was clear to
me that the wiring harness was going to have to be extended (electric
connection on all the replacement compressors is 90 CCW from factory
compressor) and the vendor stated that they included the necessary
wiring adaptors so no splicing was needed. They also said that the
put ICE Pag oil in. So I ordered hoping for the best. When I got the
compressor there was no note with it about whether it was even charged
with oil and no wiring adaptor/extension. Sent an email to the vendor
and they claimed that the way Amazon handles the whole thing is that
all the vendors who sell the same "stocking number" send their product
to Amazon and Amazon puts them all in a big "pile". And when an order
comes in the just pull one off the pile so no telling what vendors
"product" you are actually getting. I Called Amazon and they claim
the segregate the "product" by vendor and do ship one from the
specific vendor you ordered from. Who knows what the truth is. I
know I didn't get the wiring extender and had to extend the wire
harness.
I also drained the oil from the new compressor and there was no more
than an oz in it. I put 3 oz back in. When I drained the old
compressor there was less than an oz of oil that came out of it. The
oil looked nice and clean so there was no black death going on and I
didn't think there would be which I why I just did the compressor and
didn't replace the orifice tube or accumulator.
I also found out from the vendor that they sell the same stuff on
Ebay. The same compressor on ebay (same free shipping) is $20 less.
For the extra $20 I think I get a better return policy since it was
thru Amazon Prime.

Log in

HomeOwnersHub.com is a website for homeowners and building and maintenance pros. It is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here.
All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.